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amelioration

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: amélioration

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English amelioracioun, from Middle French amelioracion and probably partly ameliorate +‎ -ion.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Examples (linguistics)
  • Middle English nyce (“foolish”) → English nice (“kind”)

amelioration (countable and uncountable, plural ameliorations)

  1. The act of making better. antonym ▲quotations ▼
    Antonym: deterioration
    • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 262:
      The tumult was over, and all things returned to their old place; and the abuse remained without remedy, and the wrong without redress. Ah! if the doctrine of amelioration be true, what a mighty debt does the future owe to the past!
  2. An improvement. synonym ▲
    Synonym: revamp
  4. (linguistics) The process by which a term gains a more positive connotation over time. antonym ▲
    Antonym: pejoration
  5. (philosophy) An ameliorative change of a concept or a repertoire of concepts.
    pre-amelioration
    post-amelioration

Descendants

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “amelioration, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
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